We obviously like Spanish Wells, because we are still here. During school on Thursday I sanded and prepped the teak on the stern rail for refinishing. It had been scrapped earlier and is in need of protection, being the only part of the boat that didn’t get refinished prior to leaving NC.
After school Noah and I went with the Iceni crew to explore the western end of Spanish Wells. After walking past beautifully maintained fishing boats and neatly kept homes we came to a new bridge connecting Spanish Wells to Russell Island, the only two places one can drive to without putting your car on the “ss Freedom Defender” car barge.
The old bridge was still in the channel, deposited there by a hurricane. Just past the bridge was a delightful park with restrooms, an outdoor shower, playground equipment, shaded picnic tables and some resident ducks. The view wasn’t too shabby either as we looked out past the beach sand flats to some rectangular shaped rock islands and big swells breaking on the reefs. There were four kids playing in the park and a couple adults reading in the shade. This is a real jewel of a place! While we were exploring the beach, Beth went grocery shopping and restocked our cereal supply at the big Food Fair store. We learned that it is community owned and offers a 15% discount for reprovisioning if you talk to the store manager before shopping. Do be aware that they only accept cash.
Various crews in the marina had been working to make conch horns during the day and sunset brought eight horn blowers to the end of the dock. We all had great fun blowing the sun down into the ocean and getting the roosters and dogs of Spanish Wells riled up.
After Thursday’s evening serenade, we decided it might be wise to change locations on Friday morning. We took one more hot shower and cast off our lines to motor 0.6 nm where we picked up a mooring at the east end of the harbor. There are nine moorings here that can be rented for $10/day by calling “Cinnobar” on the VHF radio. After settling in Noah did school and I put a coat of Cetol Light on the teak. After lunch Noah and Beth went to the bank coming back with some cash and a quart of ice cream. Iceni did their reprovisioning in the afternoon and the kids came over here to play while Ian and Sue organized the groceries.
We visited with the crew of sv Sunset on the mooring behind us, whom we had last seen in Rock Sound. They stowed their two part dinghy on deck and got underway towards the Abacos about an hour before sunset. They sail slowly and planned for a mid-morning arrival near Little Harbor. This after spending the day riding bikes around Harbour Island. They are considerably more energetic and a bit younger than Beth and I!
During dinner we heard the sounds of a big diesel and popped up into the cockpit to see a big coastal freighter less than a boat length away. They had a lookout perched on the bow as they turned the ship around in the channel so they could get the opening bow facing the dock. There is considerably more activity at this end of the harbor as we are opposite the government dock and just off the channel that leads to the ocean. After Noah and I took turns helping the sun go down with our conch horn we read a couple chapters in “The Hobbit” which Iceni loaned us and we started reading last night.
The sky is cloudy this morning and we are hoping for a little bit of rain to help fill the tanks. The well water here (what else would you expect in Spanish Wells?) tastes a little bit salty so we didn’t fill up with water. Noah got up and sat on deck for a while drawing a very nice pencil picture of a house across the channel he named the “Pink Dolphin House.” Now it is back to school and time to fire up the radio to email the blogs.